Why your business needs a professional email marketing campaign

How many company newsletters do you receive in your inbox on a weekly basis?
How many of those do you read?

Creating an effective email campaign is important for any business who want to keep their products or services at the forefront of customer’s minds and can be used for anything from staff announcements to special offers. We run through some top tips to ensure you are getting the most from your online newsletters.

Why are you sending out a newsletter?

Decide what the objective of your newsletter will be. If you have no purpose, there is little point in sending one. Think about what your customers or clients would like to know.

It could be:

a promotion on a particular product

some exciting news such as a new business premises

an incentive for customers to purchase a product.

When you have decided on a purpose, it will make the process of putting it together a lot more straightforward.

Do you have an established design and layout?

If the answer to this is no and you are planning on putting something together in a plain email, you might want to reconsider. ‘Throwing together’ a design without a refined template can cause the design to alter in different browsers and images can pixelate and obstruct the message you are trying to get across.Any material that goes to your customers, whether it be an advert in a paper, a social media post or a newsletter should all reflect your company and the service or products you are offering. A low quality ‘quick’ email could be detrimental to the way clients’ view your business.

Who are you sending to?

To be able to send e-bulletins or newsletters, you will need a mailing list. If you are starting afresh or looking to increase your list, you will need to encourage users to sign up.

Use social media to promote an online contest for those who sign up to your newsletter.

Use offline marketing such as trade shows to collect email addresses*

Include a newsletter sign up on your website.

*always ensure users are happy to opt-in to receiving your newsletters. An initial welcome email to confirm their opt-in is a good method.

What is your email subject?

How many emails do you receive a day? Chances are a lot and many of those are junk or newsletters you have forgotten to unsubscribe from. The subject line of your newsletter is key to quickly engage the reader and persuade them to open the mail and read on.

Steer away from ALL CAPS- it shouts spam. If you want something to stand out- consider using an exclamation mark instead.

Check your spelling- a misspelt subject line never bodes well

Make your reader want to open the mail to find out more- a snippet into the content without giving the whole email away will increase opening rates.

Where will your call to action go?

To make your newsletter as effective as possible, feature at least one specific call to action. This might be a special offer or more detailed information on the subject you are covering. Either way, this should stand out and clearly direct readers, reflecting the whole purpose of your newsletter.

Which email marketing platform?

Choosing your email marketing platform can be partly subjective but there are also facts about what each option can do for you that can assist with your decision. We summarise the key facts about the three most popular options.

Inbox preview- see how your email will look in your recipient’s inboxes across all major email platforms.

Simple, uncontracted payment option.

When will you send it?

Now you have your compiled campaign ready with key information, a recipient list all presented in a professionally designed template, when will you send it?

Firstly, avoid weekends. Saturday and Sunday tend to have a low open rate so if possible always schedule campaigns on a weekday. Statistics suggest Monday is also not the best day to send. Your recipients are going back to work after their weekend off to an inbox full of mail. Chances are yours will be missed or deleted.

The best days to send your newsletter on are Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday. Sometime between 9-2am or 1-3pm are the optimum timeframes to get the most readers to engage with your mailshot.

Now you have successfully sent your email campaign, ensure you keep an eye on the statistics that come back in. Also, consider subscribing to newsletters from competitors to see what others are doing and adjust your next newsletter to try and maximise results.

With an in-house team of designs, developers and digital marketers, we have the experience needed to assist you with the production of a professional mailshot. For this, or any of our other services, please contact us today.